Slumdog Millionaire
Starring: DEV PATEL, FREIDA PINTO, MADHUR MITTAL, IRRFAN KHAN, SAURABH SHUKLA, and ANIL KAPOOR.
Director: DANNY BOYLE.
Released: 2008
Run time: 120min
Rated R
<NO SPOILERS>
Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How did he do it ???
A. He cheated. C. He’s a genius.
B. He’s lucky. D. It is written.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is an intense graphic love story that is at times hard to believe as well as behold. The film depicts the slums of Mumbai India in a way that is visually stunning at the same time horrific and deplorable. The fast paced editing and awesome musical score seem to numb the senses as we run barefoot into the world of India’s human landfill of orphaned children and the scumbags that prey upon them.
Jamal Malik (Patel) is one question away from winning the top prize of 20 million rupee’s on India’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. Unfortunately the local militia police think he’s cheating. After unsuccessfully torturing Jamal, they ease up and decide to talk to him. What comes next is the story of his tragic youth (in flashbacks) as he describes in detail how he knew all the answers…
Young Jamal and his brother Salim (Mittal), work for pennies maintaining public outhouses. One day as Jamal and Salim are bathing in dirty bath water, their slum is raided by a mob of Muslim hating fanatics. During the attack their mother is brutally killed, and the two brothers begin life as orphans. Following them out of the chaos is also orphaned Latika (Pinto). All three of them manage to exist on landfill scraps, until one day they are rescued by a seemingly friendly man who shelters them at a camp with other orphaned children. This quickly turns into a nightmare as older brother Salim realizes its a beggar cartel. Salim manages to save his brother from an unspeakable fate as they manage to escape. Sadly Latika can’t catch up as she’s recaptured by the Cartel.
Meanwhile, interlaced and brilliantly edited we travel back to the interrogation as the militia police playback the TV show as Jamal describes the events that provided him with the correct answers. There seems to be no respect at all for Jamal, as even the host (Kapoor) outright mocks him, and during commercial breaks tells him to walk while he still can. As he recounts the events and explains his past Jamal never backs down to the militia. The story of his past continues to fascinate as he and his older brother go back in search of Latika.
Some parts of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE are truly disturbing. To think that in 2009 humans live like this while others look the other way is mind numbing. The fact that anyone would raise children in that environment is equally mind numbing. However the story is brilliantly written in that it keeps you locked into the horror while at the same time uplifts you in a way that’s unexpected.
Incredible performances by child actors AZHARUDDIN MOHAMMED ISMAL (young Salim), AYUSH MAHESH KHEDEKAR (young Jamal), and RUBINA ALI (young Latika) will haunt your soul. They are the real stars of this film !!!
I predict SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE will take the Oscar for Best Picture as well as Best Director. It has everything…